Overcoming the Mid-Tint Objection

By Rose Harris

The best practice panel session at our 2016 Transitions Academy event allowed industry professionals the opportunity to learn from one another in a peer-to-peer format. The panel was made up of our Innovation Awards finalists, and they shared their experiences and advice regarding wearing and recommending Transitions lenses.

Questions ranged from how to educate parents on the benefits of Transitions lenses for their children, to what lens color options are best for certain patients. One attendee asked the panel how they talk to patients about the time it takes for photochromic lenses to adjust from a dark tint to clear when going indoors. She asked, “A lot of the patients dislike that it can take a minute or two to adjust from dark to light—how do I get past this challenge in a more effective way?”

If you’ve worn Transitions lenses lately, you know that the lenses are not the same as they were ten, five or even three years ago. The previous technology took a little bit longer to fade back to clear indoors, so that is why some customers may have concerns about slow fade-back time. The good news is Transitions Signature lenses with Chromea7 technology fade back twice as fast. When I get asked this question, I like to explain that Transitions lenses begin to darken immediately upon exposure to UV light and will fade back to clear when UV rays are no longer present.

Here’s what our panelists had to say about the ways that they overcome this challenge, starting from the exam chair, all the way to the sale.

Dr. Eric White, Owner, Complete Family Vision Care in San Diego, California“We are very upfront with our patients when explaining how Transitions lenses work and why the process of dark to clear is going to be delayed. We prescribe it from the exam chair, but are sure to discuss what the limitation is with the patient, so they’re not surprised. We also put more emphasis on the benefits when explaining the fade-back time, saying something like, ‘When you come inside, you’re not going to notice that it does take a little time to adjust fully back to clear.’ Just always emphasize the benefits, and they’ll be a lot more apt to purchase it.”

Dr. James Vann, Owner, VisionArts Eyecare Center in Fulton, Missouri“We offer our patients a clinical explanation for the fade back time by explaining that Transitions lenses control light and aid in light-dark adaption. There are studies showing that for every 15 minutes or 20 minutes that you’re outdoors in a clear lens, it takes up to two hours for your retina to recover and achieve maximum visual efficiency. This is a point we bring up with patients to explain why the fade-back of Transitions lenses actually helps your eyes adjust in the best way.

We do offer a 90-day satisfaction policy so that patients have a risk free chance to try the lenses themselves even if they are on the fence or are questioning the fade-back time. If they don’t like it, we’ll exchange it, but honestly, once they try them, we have more patients ask if they can change to a darker color than we have patients wanting to go back to clear lenses. This is because we usually start off by recommending Transitions Signature VII brown lenses for beginner wearers. Wanting lenses that are darker is a much nicer complaint than, “Well, these things don’t change fast enough when I come inside.” We carefully select the type of Transitions lenses, as well as the color, based on patient needs and preferences. On the rare occasion that there is push back, we are able to solve it with a different Transitions lens product rather than choosing no Transitions at all."

The following three takeaways are great for your customers to keep in mind when talking with a patient who may be concerned with fade-back time:

•Transitions Signature lenses with Chromea7 technology fade back twice as fast as the previous technology.

• Transitions lenses will fade back to clear when UV rays are no longer present.

•The fade-back time of Transitions lenses is helping your retinas to recover indoors.